1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to financial transactions and, in particular, to a device and method of risk assessment, whereby global positioning system (GPS) information is acquired for validation of financial transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical financial transaction involves a form of payment in exchange for goods and services at a point of sale. In most instances, a customer provides the form of payment, such as a check draft or credit card requisition, to a merchant in exchange for the goods and services. The check draft and the credit request are often regarded as non-cash promissory payments that instruct the customer's bank or credit guarantor to pay the merchant the amount requested by the customer. In some situations, the funds promised to the merchant by the check draft or credit request may not be paid due to reasons such as insufficient funds in the customer's checking account, account delinquency, or fraud. As a result, the merchant may be susceptible to risk when a check draft or credit card requisition is received as payment for goods and services.
Some merchants choose to manage risk by subscribing to a payment approval agency that assesses the risk associated with proffered promissory payments. For a given financial transaction, a subscribed merchant sends a transaction approval request to the agency with information, such as the payment amount and the method of payment identifying information. The agency assesses the risk and generates a risk score based on the information received. The agency then either approves or declines the transaction based on the generated risk score. The level of subscription to such an agency may vary, wherein the agency may assume the risk of the transaction by either guaranteeing the check or purchasing the check from the merchant. Thus, it is in the interest of the agency to accurately assess the risks associated with financial transactions.
As is understood, the risk of a particular transaction is often based upon the physical location at which the sale is taking place. In some areas, the likelihood that a proffered promissory payment will not be backed by sufficient funds, or will be otherwise fraudulent, is increased. Hence, risk assessment agencies typically want to know the physical location of the store front that is requesting the risk assessment of the proffered payment as that physical location is an important variable in determining risk score.
Generally, merchants are equipped with a store front transaction device which is communicatively linked to the risk assessment agency. These transaction devices have the ability to transmit information about the proffered promissory payment to the risk assessment agency as well as information that identifies the merchant. However, many of these transaction devices are portable and merchants may physically move their store location or the location of the transaction device. In this circumstance, the risk factors of accepting a proffered promissory payment may have changed as a result in the change in location without the risk assessment agency being aware of the change.
One particular circumstance where this problem occurs involves travelling merchants. Many merchants travel from location to location to sell products. An example of such a merchant includes those who sell crafts at state fairs and craft shows. The location of the sales transactions can vary quite widely within towns or states or even between states. Some of these merchants may wish to accept proffered promissory payments and may have a transaction device that they can connect to the risk assessment agency via telephone, cellular telephone or the like. In these circumstances, the risk of accepting checks or other proffered promissory payments can vary quite significantly based on location and the risk assessment agency generally does not have the ability to determine where the travelling merchant is located.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an improved method and system for assessing the risk of accepting a proffered promissory payment. To this end, there is a need for a system and method that is capable of discerning the physical location at which the transaction is occurring such that the risk assessment can take this factor into account when determining the risk of accepting the proffered promissory payment.